Global Studies

FLORENCE, ITALY

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KSU Florence

Each year the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) provides an opportunity for its students to live and study in Florence, Italy, where Kent State University has been educating students for over 50 years. Home to the program is a renovated 18th-century palazzo in the heart of the city. Fall and spring programs are structured as an opportunity to earn a full semester credit load that fits conveniently into all CAED curricula. 

Students reading cities

An ideal location for an education abroad program in architecture, interior design, architectural studies, and construction management, Florence is a magnet for art and architecture lovers. Living in our convenient, fully furnished apartments only a 10–20-minute walk from school, students experience life as locals. The city’s meticulously preserved architecture dates from the Medieval and Renaissance periods to the present and is home to more than one hundred museums that encompass all the fine arts.

How do you begin to understand the world beyond your borders if you’ve never witnessed it? As a Kent State Florence student, you aren’t just a tourist, you’re a member of the community, sharing a daily routine with local residents and beginning to understand life through the lens of another culture. Being exposed to diverse ways of life and facing the challenges of cross-cultural communication are essential to becoming a global citizen.

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Students walking through Florence pointing at a building

Rome, Venice and Milan are a train ride away, and non-stop flights are available to many other inspiring European cities. In Florence and beyond, students can fully experience the history, evolution and modernization of European art, architecture and urbanism. 

CAED’s semester abroad, offered in both the fall and the spring semesters, is an enriching, academically relevant experience, preparing our students to be well-traveled professionals who are also culturally adaptable in a global profession. 

All interested students including those from affiliate universities should contact:
David Thal, AIA
CAED Global Education Coordinator
dthal@kent.edu
330-672-0879 
www.ksuflorencecaed.net

Students with Florence in the background